Million Dollar Smile

Gaston County Animal Shelter employee Boyd Best takes a picture of a kitten given up to the shelter on Monday Sept. 20, 2010. A picture of each pet brought into the shelter is placed on the shelter's website to help reunite lost pets with their owners and get adoptable pets homes.

Red Raider Fan

McGruff takes a bike out of...birthday cake?

Rocky Mount Police acting Community Services Supervisor Yvette Jones, right, dances with McGruff the crime dog on Thursday during McGruff's 30th birthday party at the Imperial Centre. Below: Zachary Harrell, left, and Reagon Folger, both 6, watch as McGruff opens his presents. The two were part of a group of 91 children from the Wilson County Schools Summer Adventures program on a trip to the Imperial Centre.

The Week of Portraits

Norma Trunage, the Rocky Mount Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Citizen of the Year..

One of the things I love most about my job as a newspaper photographer is the incredible diversity of assignments I shoot, from sports to breaking news and everything in between.

Sometimes, things can get a little monotonous, though.

Like last week, when I think I must have had eight portrait assignments in as many days (I sort of lost count). I like shooting portraits, but after that week I was ready for something else!

I thought I would share this one that I liked a little better than the others.

Service With a Smile

Sgt. Monika King, left, of the U.S. Army 849th Quartermaster Company and Erma Lucas, Retired U.S. Navy, share a laugh on Nov. 10 during a dinner at the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Rocky Mount. The Joint Veteran's Committee of Nash and Edgecombe Counties hosted the event as a send off for the 849th, who will be deployed to Afghanistan on February 4 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.